Happy Monday everyone! This chapter is bit shorter, but hopefully you all still enjoy it. I would love to hear your thoughts so leave me a review please!

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I do not own the Harry Potter series and all characters are the property of JK Rowling with the exception of my own OCs

Chapter 13

After Triss returned to her bed, she couldn't shake the memory of the Mirror of Erised out of her mind, no matter how hard she tried. The image she saw of her mother, and everyone she loved was truly a sight she could never forget. Although, no matter how much she wished to see it again, she knew in her heart Dumbledore was right.

It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.

That statement seemed to ring in her head each time she thought of the mirror. If she lived her life by only dwelling on an image that could never be real, then her real life would simply pass her by. Besides, she could always open her locket and view the beautiful portrait of her mother, if she never felt alone, just like her dad always told her.

A thought suddenly occurred to her…

She would always have this locket and other pictures of her mother back home. Harry, on the other hand, did not. That night was the first time Harry had ever seen their faces. Pictures do more than just capture a face. They show us people and places we love and remind us that they are never truly gone.

Triss decided that Harry deserved to have something of his parents that he could go to whenever he felt sad or lost — just like Triss did with her locket. There must be pictures of his parents out there…

She was walking along the grounds deep in thought, when she suddenly spotted Hagrid's house.

That's it!

Harry said that Hagrid knew his parents, so he must know someone who would have pictures of them. If Triss wrote her dad and uncle, and had Hagrid's help on finding more people with pictures, then maybe she could put together an album or something!

Triss quickly ran over to his humble hovel and knocked on the door. The door opened to reveal Hagrid with Fang leaping forward to lick her face excitedly.

"Hello there Triss. What can I do for ye'?" He said gesturing her to come inside.

"Hagrid can you help me with something?" She asked excitedly.

"Of course, anything for Mathalus's daughter. Yer father is a good man, he is. Always there for anyone who needs help."

"You know my father?" she asked. Hagrid put on a kettle of tea and brought out two large mugs and a plate of rock cakes.

"Of course, I do. Knew him and yer mother way back when. Good people they are. They were some of tha' first to stand up and fight back when You-Know-Who came to power."

Triss beamed at that. Her father didn't talk much about his past. She would always ask questions about what it was like fighting against You-Know-Who, but he would always find a way to change the subject. Finn thought something bad happened, besides their mother's murder, and that made her dad not want to talk about it. She agreed. She knew her dad fought against death eaters and You-Know-Who, but she always felt like there was something about his past that he was hiding. Her dad could be a secretive man sometimes.
"Well speaking of my dad. He told me recently that he knew Harry's parents from back when they were all in school. Apparently, my Uncle Remus was friends with them. I was thinking about doing something nice for Harry and I think you could really help. I know that Harry's uncle and aunt are not very nice, and I think it would help him to have some pictures of his parents. This way he can look at them whenever he feels alone. I just couldn't imagine not having pictures of my mum, and I think Harry would feel the same. Could you help me?"

Hagrid starting wiping tears out of his dark eyes.

"I would be happy to help you. That's a fine idea Triss. I'll write some letters to some of their ol' friends and see if they have any. I'm sure your uncle and dad may have a few lying around as well."

"Thanks Hagrid," Triss said happily. Triss and Hagrid talked a bit more about Hogwarts and magical creatures. After finishing her tea, Triss said goodbye and made her way up to the great hall to have dinner with Harry, Ron and Hermione — the latter who came back to school that morning.

"You alright Harry?" Triss asked, helping herself to a pork chop and crisps. Harry had a pale look on his face.

He told her and the others about how he had been having nightmares of his parents' death. He would see them disappearing in a flash of green light, while a high voice cackled with laughter.

"You see, Dumbledore was right, that mirror could drive you mad," said Ron, when Harry told him about these dreams.

"You're not wrong. I felt so awful those couple of days," Triss added. After they discovered the mirror, that was all she could think about. She barely ate and slept for three days. After their talk with Dumbledore, Triss felt loads better and apologized to Ron for being so short with him. He understood and thanked her for apologizing.

Hermione took a different view of things. She was torn between horror at the idea of Triss and Harry being out of bed, roaming the school three nights in a row ("If Filch had caught you!"), and disappointment that they hadn't at least found out who Nicolas Flamel was.

They had almost given up hope of ever finding Flamel in a library book, even though Harry was still sure he'd read the name somewhere. Once term had started, they were back to skimming through books for ten minutes during their breaks. Harry had even less time than the other three, because Quidditch practice had started again.

Wood was working the team harder than ever. Even the endless rain that had replaced the snow couldn't dampen his spirits. The Weasleys complained that Wood was becoming a fanatic, but Harry seemed to be on Wood's side. If they won their next match, against Hufflepuff, they would overtake Slytherin in the House Championship for the first time in seven years. Triss agreed too. She was dying to see Hogwarts win and shove it right in Malfoy's smug, little face.

"Harry can I come watch you practice? I need a break from the library. I swear Hermione is going to be the death of me if she keeps this up." Triss said to Harry as they walked back to Gryffindor tower.

"Sure. I could use some encouragement. Wood is training us to the bone."

So, the pair made their way to the Quidditch pitch where the rain starting coming down in a cold mist that chilled Triss to the bone. She didn't mind, as long as she got to watch Harry with envy as he sped across the field like a blur. She conjured a jar of blue flames to keep herself warm and kept her hands close around it. Triss laughed to herself at Fred and George who were dive-bombing each other and pretending to fall off their brooms.

"Will you stop messing around!" Oliver Wood yelled. "That's exactly the sort of thing that'll lose us the match! Snape's refereeing this time, and he'll be looking for any excuse to knock points off Gryffindor!"

George Weasley really did fall off his broom at these words. Triss almost dropped the jar she was holding. Harry seemed to go pale at his words.

"Snape's refereeing?" George spluttered through a mouthful of mud. "When's he ever refereed a Quidditch match? He's not going to be fair if we might overtake Slytherin."

The rest of the team landed next to George to complain, too.

"It's not my fault," said Wood. "We've just got to make sure we play a clean game, so Snape hasn't got an excuse to pick on us."

Which was all very well, thought Triss, but she had another reason for not wanting Snape near Harry while he was playing Quidditch. . .

The rest of the team hung back to talk to one another as usual at the end of practice, but Triss ran right up to Harry, the pair headed straight up to the common room to tell Hermione and Ron.

"Harry you know what this means if Snape referees —" she said trying to keep up.

"I know" he said back

They got to the common room to find their friends playing wizard's chess. Chess was the only thing Hermione ever lost at, something Harry and Ron thought was very good for her. Triss only gave her encouragement and told her Ron was practically unbeatable.

"Don't talk to me for a moment," said Ron when Harry sat down next to him, "I need to concen —" He caught sight of Triss and Harry's faces. "What's the matter with you two? You look terrible."

Speaking quietly so that no one else would hear, Harry told the other two about Snape's sudden, sinister desire to be a Quidditch referee.

"Don't play," said Hermione at once.

"Say you're ill," said Ron.

"Pretend to break your leg," Hermione suggested.

"Really break your leg," said Ron.

"I'll do it for you," Triss said with a demented smile.

"I can't," said Harry. "There isn't a reserve Seeker. If I back out, Gryffindor can't play at all."

"If there wasn't that stupid rule about first year's not being able to play, then I would offer my services," Triss said. "Until then, we have to figure out some way to get you out of it."

At that moment Neville toppled into the common room. How he had managed to climb through the portrait hole was anyone's guess, because his legs had been stuck together with what they recognized at once as the Leg-Locker Curse. He must have had to bunny hop all the way up to Gryffindor Tower.

Everyone fell over laughing except Triss and Hermione, who leapt up and performed the counter curse. Neville's legs sprang apart, and he got to his feet with Triss's help, trembling.

"Oh Neville are you ok?" Triss asked.

Neville sniffed a bit and said, "I'm alright."

"What happened?" Hermione asked him, leading him over to sit with Harry and Ron.

"Malfoy," said Neville shakily. "I met him outside the library. He said he'd been looking for someone to practice that on."

"Go to Professor McGonagall!" Hermione urged Neville. "Report him!"

Neville shook his head.

"I don't want more trouble," he mumbled.

"Neville, trouble has a habit of finding you," Triss said with a chuckle.

"You've got to stand up to him, Neville!" said Ron. "He's used to walking all over people, but that's no reason to lie down in front of him and make it easier."

"There's no need to tell me I'm not brave enough to be in Gryffindor, Malfoy's already done that," Neville choked out.

"Don't think like that. The sorting hat put you in Gryffindor, just like all of us. You only need to find a little courage. Malfoy is a dirty, little weasel, and lions like you can take him on any day," Triss said with a comforting smile.

Neville looked as though he might cry and choked out, "Thanks Triss."

Harry pulled out a Chocolate Frog, and gave it to Neville.

"You're worth twelve of Malfoy," Harry said. "And Triss's right. The Sorting Hat chose you for Gryffindor, didn't it? And where's Malfoy? In stinking Slytherin."

Neville's lips twitched in a weak smile as he unwrapped the frog.

"Thanks, you guys . . . I think I'll go to bed. . . . D'you want the card Harry, you collect them, don't you?"

As Neville walked away, Harry looked at the Famous Wizard card.

"Dumbledore again," he said, "He was the first one I ever —"

He gasped. He stared at the back of the card. Then he looked up at Triss, Ron, and Hermione.

"I've found him!" he whispered.

"Found who?" Triss asked.

"Flamel! I told you I'd read the name somewhere before, I read it on the train coming here — listen to this: 'Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the Dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel'!"

Hermione jumped to her feet. She hadn't looked so excited since they'd gotten back the marks for their very first piece of homework.

"Stay there!" she said, and she sprinted up the stairs to the girls' dormitories. Triss, Harry, and Ron barely had time to exchange mystified looks before she was dashing back, an enormous old book in her arms.

"I never thought to look in here!" she whispered excitedly. "I got this out of the library weeks ago for a bit of light reading."

"Light?" said Triss and Ron said together, but Hermione told them to be quiet until she'd looked something up, and started flicking frantically through the pages, muttering to herself.

At last she found what she was looking for.

"I knew it! I knew it!"

"Are we allowed to speak yet?" said Ron grumpily. Hermione ignored him.

"Be quiet or else we'll never find out," Triss said elbowing him.

"Nicolas Flamel," she whispered dramatically, "is the only known maker of the Sorcerer's Stone!"

This didn't have quite the effect she'd expected.

"The what?" said Triss, Harry and Ron.

"Oh, honestly, don't you three read? Look — read that, there."

"I read, just not massive textbooks like you Hermione," Triss said teasingly. Hermione rolled her eyes and she pushed the book toward them, and Triss, Harry and Ron read:

The ancient study of alchemy is concerned with making the Sorcerer's Stone, a legendary substance with astonishing powers. The Stone will transform any metal into pure gold. It also produces the Elixir of Life, which will make the drinker immortal.

There have been many reports of the Sorcerer's Stone over the centuries, but the only Stone currently in existence belongs to Mr. Nicolas Flamel, the noted alchemist and opera lover. Mr. Flamel, who celebrated his six hundred and sixty-fifth birthday last year, enjoys a quiet life in Devon with his wife, Perenelle (six hundred and fifty-eight).

"See?" said Hermione, when they had finished. "The dog must be guarding Flamel's Sorcerer's Stone! I bet he asked Dumbledore to keep it safe for him, because they're friends and he knew someone was after it, that's why he wanted the Stone moved out of Gringotts!"

"A stone that makes gold and stops you from ever dying!" said Harry. "No wonder Snape's after it! Anyone would want it."

"He would be rich and live forever. That's a dangerous combination for someone as awful as Snape," Triss said.

"And no wonder we couldn't find Flamel in that Study of Recent Developments in Wizardry," said Ron. "He's not exactly recent if he's six hundred and sixty-five, is he?"

"Depends on who you talk to," Triss said with a giggle.

The next morning in Defense Against the Dark Arts, while copying down different ways of treating werewolf bites, Harry and Ron were still discussing what they'd do with a Sorcerer's Stone if they had one. It wasn't until Ron said he'd buy his own Quidditch team that Harry remembered about Snape and the coming match.

"I'm going to play," he told Triss, Ron and Hermione. "If I don't, all the Slytherins will think I'm just too scared to face Snape. I'll show them . . . it'll really wipe the smiles off their faces if we win."

"Just as long as we're not wiping you off the field," said Triss.

As the match drew nearer, however, Harry became more and more nervous, whatever he told Triss, Ron, and Hermione. The rest of the team wasn't too calm, either. The idea of overtaking Slytherin in the House Championship was wonderful, no one had done it for seven years, but would they be allowed to, with such a biased referee?

Triss felt on edge on the day of the match. She spotted Snape who gave her a cold sneer, and couldn't help but feel scared for Harry. She wished him luck, along with Ron and Hermione, outside the locker rooms and just hoped they would see him alive after this match. Triss decided to keep her wand out during the game and stay on high alert.

Triss, Ron and Hermione had found a place in the stands next to Neville, who couldn't understand why they looked so grim and worried, or why they had brought their wands to the match. Little did Harry know that Triss, Ron and Hermione had been secretly practicing the Leg-Locker Curse. They'd gotten the idea from Malfoy using it on Neville, and were ready to use it on Snape if he showed any sign of wanting to hurt Harry.

"Now, don't forget, it's Locomotor Mortis," Hermione muttered as Ron slipped his wand up his sleeve.

"I know," Ron snapped. "Don't nag."

"Well maybe if you actually listened to Hermione for once and didn't mumble all of your spells, then maybe they would actually work for a change." Triss said with a huff. Hermione gave her a one-armed hug for always being on her side. The girls had to stick together, especially when the boys acted like complete dunderheads at times.

The teams marched onto the field with Snape in the lead.

"I've never seen Snape look so mean," he told Triss and Hermione. "Look — they're off. Ouch!"

Someone had poked Ron in the back of the head. It was Malfoy.

"Oh, sorry, Weasley, didn't see you there."

Malfoy grinned broadly at Crabbe and Goyle.

"Wonder how long Potter's going to stay on his broom this time? Anyone want a bet? What about you, Selwyn? Crabbe thinks he won't last 15 minutes. I said he won't last five."

Triss was about to retort but didn't get a chance. Snape had just awarded Hufflepuff a penalty because George Weasley had hit a Bludger at him. Hermione, who had all her fingers crossed in her lap, was squinting fixedly at Harry, who was circling the game like a hawk, looking for the Snitch.

"You know how I think they choose people for the Gryffindor team?" said Malfoy loudly a few minutes later, as Snape awarded Hufflepuff another penalty for no reason at all. "It's people they feel sorry for. See, there's Potter, who's got no parents, then there's the Weasleys, who've got no money — you should be on the team, Longbottom, you've got no brains."

Neville went bright red but turned in his seat to face Malfoy.

"I'm worth twelve of you, Malfoy," he stammered.

Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle howled with laughter, but Ron, still not daring to take his eyes from the game, said, "You tell him, Neville."

"Go Neville!" Triss said happily but was also not looking away from the game.

"Longbottom, if brains were gold, you'd be poorer than Weasley, and that's saying something. Maybe your girlfriend Selwyn here, could lend you some. Oh wait that'd be impossible. Her blonde head's about as empty as yours."

Triss's nerves were already stretched to the breaking point with anxiety about Harry, and now she had Malfoy putting her temper over the edge. Her hands turned into fists and she had to bite her tongue not to let out a dozen hexes his way.

"I'm warning you, Malfoy — one more word —" She said.

"Ron! Triss!" said Hermione suddenly, "Harry — !"

"What? Where?"

Harry had suddenly gone into a spectacular dive, which drew gasps and cheers from the crowd. Hermione stood up, her crossed fingers in her mouth, as Harry streaked toward the ground like a bullet. Triss was on her feet, eyes glued to Harry's speeding form.

"Go Harry!" Triss screamed.

"You're in luck, Weasley, Potter's obviously spotted some money on the ground!" said Malfoy.

Ron snapped. Before Malfoy knew what was happening, Ron was on top of him, wrestling him to the ground. Triss joined him and didn't even bother with her wand, sending a nasty kick to his stomach and punch straight at Goyle's nose who was coming her way. Neville hesitated, then clambered over the back of his seat to help.

"Come on, Harry!" Hermione screamed, leaping onto her seat to watch as Harry sped straight at Snape — she didn't even notice Malfoy and Ron rolling around under her seat, or the scuffles and yelps coming from the whirl of fists that was Triss, Neville, Crabbe, and Goyle.

Up in the air, Snape turned on his broomstick just in time to see something scarlet shoot past him, missing him by inches — the next second, Harry had pulled out of the dive, his arm raised in triumph, the Snitch clasped in his hand.

The stands erupted; it had to be a record, no one could ever remember the Snitch being caught so quickly.

"Ron! Triss! Where are you? The game's over! Harry's won! We've won! Gryffindor is in the lead!" shrieked Hermione, dancing up and down on her seat and hugging Parvati Patil in the row in front.

Triss let go of Goyle's fat head and sent one more kick to his legs, racing over to see Gryffindor's victory. The three Slytherin boys ran with their tails between their legs, and blood running down their faces.

Triss couldn't help but feel a sense of victory at seeing Snape spit bitterly on the ground.

Triss let out a breath she seemed to have been holding for the entire match. The game was over, Harry was safe, and Gryffindor won.

They followed Gryffindor out to the field to congratulate Harry, but the crowd blocked their path. They opted for cheering on Harry and the team, with Ron holding his bleeding nose in the process.

Triss looked over to the stands and saw Neville, the poor boy, was still out cold from a nasty, curtesy of Crabbe.

Triss, Ron, and Hermione quickly came to his aid and took him up to the hospital wing, without any teachers spotting them.

He was still knocked out by the time they left, and Madame Pomfrey assured them he would be ok. Although, she did look at them suspiciously — what with Triss's unkempt hair and bruised cheek, and Ron holding his bloody nose.

The whole way up to the common room, Triss and Ron talked excitedly about their fight with Malfoy, while Hermione only scoffed and rolled her eyes at the pair for fighting.

"You really shouldn't let Malfoy get to you like that you know. One of these days you'll wind up expelled," Hermione said as they walked into the common room.

"—But Hermione, it'll be well worth it. The look on Malfoy's face when you punched him Ron, was brilliant." Triss said.

"Not as good as the blow you sent Goyle's way. The thick git was too slow to even move out of the way," Ron said. Triss and Ron laughed at that.

Soon the rest of Gryffindor house made their way back to the common room with Fred, George, and Finnick in lead and various cakes and drinks in hand.

"Time to celebrate everyone!" Finn shouted out and George lit off a red and gold firework.

Triss, Hermione and Ron were about to join in on the fun, but noticed Harry wasn't back with the Quidditch team.

"Where's Harry?" Triss asked with a confused look.

"Dunno, he was putting his broom in the shed when we left." George said through a mouthful of cake.

The trio felt worried at Harry not being back, so they decided to go out and look for him.

They had barely shut the portrait of the fat lady when they saw Harry running towards them with a pale look on his face.

"Harry, where have you been?" Hermione squeaked.

"We were about to send out a search party," Triss said with a worried look.

"We won! You won! We won!" shouted Ron, thumping Harry on the back. "And I gave Malfoy a black eye, and then Triss came in and punched Goyle straight in the nose. Neville tried to take on Crabbe single-handed, but now he's out cold in the hospital wing. But Madam Pomfrey says he'll be all right — talk about showing Slytherin! Everyone's waiting for you in the common room, we're having a party, Fred and George stole some cakes and stuff from the kitchens."

"Never mind that now," said Harry breathlessly. "Let's find an empty room, you wait 'til you hear this. . . "

He made sure Peeves wasn't inside before shutting the door behind them, then he told them what he'd seen and heard.

"So we were right, it is the Sorcerer's Stone, and Snape's trying to force Quirrell to help him get it. He asked if he knew how to get past Fluffy — and he said something about Quirrell's 'hocus-pocus'— I reckon there are other things guarding the stone apart from Fluffy, loads of enchantments, probably, and Quirrell would have done some anti-Dark Arts spell that Snape needs to break through —"

"So you mean the Stone's only safe as long as Quirrell stands up to Snape?" said Hermione in alarm.

"It'll be gone by next Tuesday," said Ron.

Triss added in a dejected tone, "Well that's just perfect. The only person standing in the way of Snape getting the Sorcerer's Stone, is the most pathetic professor in the school."

No one could disagree with her. They felt truly and utterly helpless.

Not too much going on in this chapter, but in the next one we get to meet Norbert the Dragon! Let me know what you guys think of the story so far! I'm very curious and would really appreciate some critique. Review, Favourite, and Follow!